The first 2023 edition of the exercise begins today Offshore, the main training cycle of the Navy, organized and conducted by the command in chief of the naval team, which will involve forces and personnel from 23 nations (12 NATO countries and 11 Partners), 41 naval units including ships and submarines, as well as aircraft and naval aviation helicopters, amphibious units of the marine brigade Saint Mark, raiders and divers of COMSUBIN, naval vehicles and aircraft of the body of the Port Authorities, with the addition of vehicles and personnel of the Army, Air Force, Arma dei Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza. A total of about 6.000 soldiers involved together with civilian personnel from various university institutes and research centres.
The complex and articulated training scenario of the "Open Sea" 2023-1 will be developed in the traditional multidimensional context, with the involvement of air and land assets, of submarine dimensions, all interconnected through the tools and networks offered by the cybernetic and spatial domains. “We will test our Maritime Instrument for its readiness, efficiency, projectability, long-term sustainability, balance, interoperability and ability to generate multi-domain effects at the strategic, operational and tactical levels” so expressed the team admiral Aurelio De Carolis, commander in chief of the naval team.
The forces of the naval squadron, which will exercise until May 6 together with those of the Atlantic Alliance and other partner Navies, will operate in the maritime spaces between the Adriatic Sea, the Ionian Sea, the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Strait of Sicily and the of Sardinia, including both the high seas and the coastal areas and the portions of the surrounding territory and the relative overlying air spaces.
The forces in the field – under the leadership of the staffs of the various naval divisions, of the marine brigade Saint Mark and the commands of the specialized components of the Navy - will compete in highly realistic simulations, fight against conventional and asymmetrical threats, raids on coastal sites of interest, maritime security exercises, control and remediation of the seabed, prevention and fight against illicit trafficking. As part of the dual tasks of the Armed Forces, training activities will also be conducted for the protection of the maritime environment and for the rescue of populations affected by natural disasters with the collaboration of Civil Protection personnel.
During the exercise, a training activity focused on the cybernetic context called Chironex 23-1 is scheduled.
In continuity with the previous editions, the participation of operators and assets of the "Pozzuolo del Friuli" Army Brigade (AAV7 and armored vehicles) will also be consolidated in this Open Sea Centaur) which, with the marine brigade Saint Mark, constitute the National Projection Screening Capacity (CNPM), and the participation of several Air Force aircraft, including CAEW G550 aircraft, fighters Euro Fighter and F-35s as well as KC767A aerial refueling assets.
Just the short take-off and vertical landing variant of the F35 (the "B" version), supplied to the Air Force of the Navy and the Air Force, will operate from Ship Cavour, in close cooperation with the other aircraft on board and fully integrated into the daily flight cycles programmed by the air operations at sea coordination cell, embarked on the aircraft carrier.
On board the units of the naval team there will also be over 70 university students, including students and accompanying teachers, fully integrated within the embarked staff, according to their studies. The involvement of students is an expression of the tradition that sees the Navy as a promoter of the progress of a defense and maritime culture that makes university education a strategic element on the national scene.
As many as 14 universities are involved in this first edition of the Open Sea 2023: the University of Bari, the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, the University of Genoa, the State University of Milan, the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan, the Polytechnic of Milan, the Free University of Languages and Communication of Milan (IULM), the Federico II University of Naples, the Sant'Anna University of Pisa, the La Sapienza University of Rome, the Free International University of Social Studies (LUISS) of Rome, the University for Foreigners of Siena, the University of Trieste and the University of Tuscia.
